It may sound a bit like Bah Humbug but I have never been a big fan of Holiday music. It is all the same and predictable and a lot of it is just downright cheesy. I also cannot stand when stores start playing holiday music before Thanksgiving. However, I confess that a good Christmas CD will get you in the mood for the Advent season like nothing else. My favorite Christmas CD ever is and will always be the Bruce Cockburn Christmas album; but this year I have received a few CDs that are new classics:
Rosie Thomas – A Very Rosie Christmas This one is at the top of my list this year. It is a nice mix of originality and tradition. Best of all her original composition “Why Can’t it be Christmastime All Year?” is a new classic Christmas song. She also has some great new arrangements of classic Christmas songs. Especially good is her version of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” Thomas is a Seattle area favorite and now she will always be a holiday favorite of mine.
Alison Brown – Evergreen Brown’s banjo virtuosity and creativity make for a great Holiday album. This NewGrass artist is definitely leaning more to her Jazz side on this album. On several songs she seamlessly combines two classic tunes into one song but not as a typical medley. It is more of an inter-mingling of songs. Listen to “Carol and the Kings,” “Two Santas” and “Skating/Feliz Navidad.”
George Strait – Classic Christmas Simply put this album is what it says it is. So why isn’t it just another traditional predictable Christmas recording? Because it is George Strait. The perfect Country voice makes the perfect Country Christmas album.
Compassion not Consumption The Advent Conspiracy
This review also appears on Amber Waves of Twang
About the author: Chip and his family live in Birmingham, AL. Roll Tide!